Carriage Horses from 1918

R & I have a good friend, Bob, who has been into carriage horses for about 35 years - I say friend, which he is but he is also my boss! Bob owns a carriage making business near where we live. Keep in mind that we don't live in town, so I use the word 'near' loosely! Bob makes and refurbishes carriages and has trained many horses and people to drive. He used to do weddings, funerals, prom, etc. Bob is a Morgan horse lover, of which I am not, but he is one heck of a carriage man!

Anyhow, he has offered to help me start Gunner using some basic driving techniques. Did you know that horses that learn to drive first often make better saddle horses? I didn't either but its true. I have done a lot of training in my days and ridden a lot of types of riding. I have not ever driven a carriage let alone trained a carriage horse. So in spring, when my neck is healed and Bob's back is healed (he just had surgery also), we will get together to start working with Gunner.

Bob sent me the following article from The Washington Post, December 22, 1918:
Arrangements have been completed for the Christmas dinner for horses to be given by the Washington Animal Rescue League at Twelfth and Little B streets northwest on Tuesday, the day before Christmas. The Haymarket space has been devoted to the equine holiday, and there will be a tree loaded with such delicacies as hay, corn, carrots, and apples. Each horse will get a substantial feed of oats. The drivers will be served with free hot coffee, and there will be music.
The Christmas dinner for horses originated in Washington four years ago, and is now a feature of the holiday in several American cities. The Animal Rescue League works solely for the welfare of animals and has been very successful in enlisting the sympathy of horse owners and drivers in the work of relieving unnecessary suffering.
Tuesday has been fixed for the horses dinner because of the fact that on Christmas day they have done their work and are resting in the stable. The league, therefore, has chosen a busy day to reward the horses that have been active in delivering holiday packages. Every driver is invited to get a cup of coffee while his horse is feasting.

This article is also from The Washington Post, three days later, on December 25, 1918:
The Haymarket, at Twelfth and B streets northwest, was an animated scene yesterday, when market horses were made the guests of a bountiful Christmas dinner. Motion picture photographers were there, and they secured views of the horses helping themselves from a Christmas tree on which were strung corn, carrots, apples, lumps of sugar, and other delicacies. Horses have been hard at work delivering Christmas packages and were given a chance to pose while partaking of a hearty dinner of oats. Every driver got a cup of hot coffee, but the horses were the real guests of honor.

Several ladies of the Washington Animal Rescue League were in charge of the dinner. They were ably assisted by Boy Scout Christen Davis, of Troop 59, and by Scouts Newman and Atkinson. The two latter furnished music. Portable troughs were carried to the horses in some cases, and they enjoyed their oats in spite of the rain and the busy hauling of trees and turkeys. One or two automobiles were also used in carrying oats to horses at the other markets. In all, it is estimated that several hundred horses received a reward for faithful work they had done to make Christmas happy for humans.